Silence falls upon us, and it becomes disconcerting, and that’s when I notice that Charles is holding his stare toward me.
“Yes?” I lift my shoulders.
He pretends to fix the band of his watch. “It’s nothing.”
“Obviously, it’s something.” And I’m curious.
“Julian, well, how do I say this?”
“Spit it out.” I’m growing impatient.
He notices. “It isn’t crazy if you might… it’s Savannah, she’s… All I’m saying is you two can work really well together… there are policies to ensure that.”
I begin to laugh because he just advised that Savannah and I could be sleeping together, for all we want… but do it discreetly because of company policies. The guy may have hit retirement, but he is still bold.“Right,” I play along. “Not an issue, but duly noted,” I lie because I absolutely did everything I shouldn’t have yesterday.
“Okay.” His smile returns.
It’s a very long beat, and something else crosses my mind. “The clause about her student debt. It only happens if she works for us for a set amount of time, right?”
“Yes. Two more years.”
My lips quirk out, and I shake my head once. “You can get rid of the time limit. It will be paid either way.”
Charles's eyes bug out. “Oh?”
“Yes. She can quit, and it won’t matter.”
He stands, unsure of what to say. “Has something happened?” he pries.
“No. Just get rid of the clause.” My face must appear as stone, unreadable.
“I guess I could talk to HR. There are policies?—”
I cut him right off. “And I own this company. Just get rid of the clause, and there is one more thing.” He appears to be all ears. “Don’t tell Savannah.”
He appears completely gobsmacked. “What? Why?”
A sly smirk creeps up on the corner of my mouth. “Leverage,” I simply explain.
He rolls his eyes, not impressed with my antics, but he obliges anyway. “Christ, I can’t even begin to break this one down. Fine.” He gives up, and when I don’t respond, he decides it's his time to leave. “Well, that’s me. The temp, my assistant, promised to have anything I needed to sign off on all ready for one go.”
“Makes sense.”
He walks to the open door and peeks out. “I thought Savannah would be back by now. I wanted to say hi.”
“Back from where?”
His brows furrow. “She had to finish a paper last night and submit it first thing this morning. Remember?It’s her big final paper deadline. She’s finishing her master’s.”
Ah, shit.I need to remember these details. She’s been working on this for a long time. It isn’t a small feat. We even talked about it.
“Right. It slipped my mind.” Or I should read my damn calendar, where she probably made a note that she would be in late.
He gives me a little salute goodbye.
I’m relieved that she is actually coming to work today. It’s a mystery how we will face one another. Deciding to busy myself, I go back to my desk and make a few calls, and around 10 AM, I hear movement which captures my attention. Through the open door, I see that Savannah has arrived at her desk.
My pulse begins to quicken, and I push myself away from my desk and rise. I’ll make the first move. I’m the older one, in a position of authority, and the man who decided her mouth was worth my lips.
